Upper for boots or shoes



(No Model.)

G. P. HERNDON. UPPER FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

PatentedApr. 19, 1892.'

UNITE" STATES ATENT Enron.

GEORGE P. HERNDON, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

UPPER FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,314, dated April 19, 1892.

Application filed June 2, 1891. Serial No. 394,837. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. HERNDON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham,in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in shoe-uppers and the blank therefor of that class in which a single seam is provided at the side and no seam at the heel.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, forma part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a View of the blank from which the upper is formed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a shoe provided with my improvement.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in both views where they occur.

A designates the blank, which is of the shape shown in Fig. 1, with each vertical half a duplicate of the other in shape, with the opening a cut out at a point which when the piece is doubled in forming the shoe will be upon one side of the central line therethrough, preferably at about the center of that half thereof as seen in Fig. 2. This opening is substantially of an elliptical or vertically-elongated oval shape and at the up er end terminates at a short distance from the upper edge of the blank, so as not to disconnect the leather at this point, and at the other end the said opening does not extend below the center of the shoe and is contracted, as seen at b, so that when it is folded and seamed there will be no bunch at the seam and the upper will be given the proper shape.

In Fig. 2 the vertically-elliptical opening is shown as sewed up at c.

I do away with the heel-seam and make a short neat seam at the side.

My upper is applicable to the finest shoes and the appearance is neat and the shoe comfortable to the wearer.

'WVhile I have shown the elliptical opening as vertical and so arranged as to be substantially near the center of the side of the upper, I do not intend to restrict myself to the opening being perfectly vertical, as it may be inclined from a perpendicular, and it maybe arranged so as to be upon one side, and in fact the latter will probably be preferable, as it will notrub the ankle when the seam is formed. It is deemed important that the opening a be at the'upper edge of the upper instead of at the lower edge and that both ends thereof be contracted as shown in Fig. 1, whereby a better and neater seam is provided.

I am aware that it has been proposed to form an upper with a curved slit near its upper edge to form a seam upon the side instead of at the heel, and I am also aware that it has been proposed to construct a boot with an elongated oval-shaped opening near the sole or lower part of the upper thereof, and do not seek to cover such constructions. I am not aware that an upper for a shoe has ever before been devised with an ellipticalshaped opening near its upper edge and the said opening formed by the removal of a piece of the leather of the upper and the opening contracted at the end. construction is my invention restricted. By locating the seamed opening above the counter and extending its upper end to near the top edge of the'upper I am able to impart a neater fit and more pleasing shape to the ankle part of the shoe. Again, the seam being removed from the lower part of the shoe ren- To this particular ders the shoe practically water-proof, and,

further, by my arrangement of side seam wholly in the softer and thinnerleather above the counter all risk of'abrading the foot is avoided, which is'so liable to occur when the seam is made in thestiffer and heavier leather of the counter.

What I claim as my invention is The herein-described shoe, having the quarthe counter to near the top edge of the quarter formed in a single piece without a hee1- ter, as and for the purposes set forth. l0 seam and provided in one side of its upper In testimony whereof I affix my signature in part near the heel and above the counter with presence of two witnesses.

5 a vertically-elliptical opening formed by re- GEO. P. HERNDON.

moving a piece of the material, said opening \Vitnesses: being seamed up to give shape to the ankle JOHN F. SMITH,

portion of the shoe and extended from above FRANK L. BARKER.

lt is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 47 3,314, granted April 19, 1892', upon the application of George P. Herndon, in Uppers for Boots or Shoes, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction, as follows: In line 43, page 1, the word center should read counter; and

that the saidLetters Patent should be read case in the Patent Office.

with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the Signed, conntersigned, and sealed this 3d day of May, A. D. 1892.

[SEAL] CYRUS BUSSEY,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Gountersigned:

W. E. SIMoNDs,

Commiseioner of Patents.

of Birmingham, Alabama, for an improvement 

